Single Of The Week
Get up. Get your head waaaaaay too close to the speakers, and get ready for stupid dancing, which is, of course, the best kind. Glasgow's Delgados have sent their debut in an express post package sure to get you as excitable as anything; a bulging box full of sly and knowing, more-than-a-little-daft, joyous, don't care, chord-slanging, pop.
"Swell Maps!" says ET, nodding avuncular approval as "Monica Webster" - somebody lucky, though I don't know who - gets her own slap-backed, spiked K-records, jump and twist, tribute. Glorious practice-amp funhouse-mirror surf guitar and a surprise wobble out middle eight, the word 'cheesecake', and a chorus that has Alun singing into a fuzzy mic like a boy with a mouthful of exploding sweeties and a jam jar full of frogs.
"Hmmm, Prolapse but sparkier", nods Sharon O' Connell, as "Brand New Car" sashays, ferris-wheeled and loose-kneed, into Alun's and Emma's cucumber-cool imitation of Sonny And Cher doing "The Swim" at a bus stop as though thrift shop grooviness was still essential. And there are more than those two sides to come, starting with another single this summer. I hope the next one's octagonal at least.
JENNIFER NINE
Melody Maker - April 1997
Extract from feature on Chemikal Underground
Chemikal Underground's first release, a dipped toe into the chemikal sea. The sound of the Delgados investigating their instruments and finding their own noise - fast, invigorating, fearless and young.
All About D Fanzine - February 1995
More good new stuff coming out of Scotland - this time from The Delgados, a Glasgow fourpiece. This double-A sided single is their first release on their own Chemikal Underground label. Two bright, sparky, pop songs - yes it's that 'p' word again. Though in a recent interview with them the 'p' word was Pavement. Can't quite hear that myself - I like this a lot though, and look forward to hearing more from them and seeing them live sometime. Love the pics on the record itself - who needs to print song titles when you can say it in pictures!
(All About D was a popular fanzine at the time and played a central role in the early popularisation of bis.)